Unexpected
by PeliikGrahSol
Summary: After the Konoha Crush and the failure of retrieving Sasuke. Naruto finds himself retracing his steps, but stumbles upon someone unexpected that changes a lot.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:  
** Unexpected

Leaves crunched beneath his feet as he retraced his steps through the forest towards the Valley of the End. He followed their path past the crumbled earth dome and the destruction that Choji left behind, past all the webs from the spider dude.

No one knew where he was, everyone still thinking he was recovering or staying out of the way.

Naruto sighed, still feeling tired and exhausted from his wounds he sat down to recover his breath. He for the thousandth time wondered why Sasuke had done it, why he did it. Naruto scratched at his chest, the still healing hole Sasuke had punched in him was itching terribly, and the bandages constrained his breathing.

It had been a week since his fight with Sasuke, it had been five days since he woke up. Five agonizing days. The moment he had been released by Granny Tsunade, after being threatened with pain of death if he did anything more than walk, eat, talk, or sleep, he had run off.

He really did not know why, but the memories of those days he spent chasing after Sasuke, they were burning him up from the inside. He was curious and he had questions, questions he hope could be answered by retracing every moment of the mission. So he had left to do just that. No one had seen him wander off, and no one probably knew he was gone yet. He would not be surprised if so.

After a minute of playing with a sticky string of yucky man-spider web he set off again. He had been wandering for the past three days, his injuries slowing his travel to a speedy trod as he tracked his way through the heavy brush of the giant Fire land woods. Stopping often to breathe and drink a mouthful of water.

It took most of the day to reach where he, Kiba and Shikamaru had actually managed to steal back the barrel Sasuke had been in. Then they got separated, Kiba being blown off a cliff with the two headed guy, and Shikamaru and he to deal with the girl. He rubbed the spot where she had decked him in the face. She had not hit like a girl that was for sure.

He was brought to a stop when he stared over the huge wall of tree pieces barring his way. He knew that Gaara's sister Temari had helped Shikamaru defeat the foul mouthed sound ninja. But he never imagined the amount of destruction she had levied against the area. Thousandths of pieces of cut up trees laid crisscross between the incredibly huge tree trunks of the giant fire land woods. It even stacked up far above the tree crowns… or what now must be the tree's crowns

"Woah," summed up his awe.

Had she been that strong that it had justified this destruction? She had not looked to be.

With his awe fuelling this new curiosity he started to climb up over the heap, until he managed to climb up and over the canopy, where all he could see was a field of cut off tree stumps sticking out here and there. He could smell the pungent tree sap that was hanging over the area.

He sat down on a cut off branch just to stare for a moment at the sight.

Sitting there listening to the rustling leaves and birds singing he heard an odd sound. A distant and weak: Thuck.

Thuck, thuck.

Again he heard it. It was like a woodpecker, if that wood pecker was ten times larger than any woodpecker Naruto had ever heard of.

Following the sound he could hear it more clearly, and between the pauses a scraping sound, together with a crack of wood giving way. Fully convinced this was no bird Naruto approached cautiously. Climbing he slowly peered over the last obstacle and froze in shock when a far to recognizable voice growled:

"Fucker! Bitch! Slut! Whore! Damn shit bug ridden tree bastard!"

It was her, the pink haired sound ninja, Tayuya. She was alive!? But Shikamaru said… she was crushed… Naruto looked at the Kunai in her hand and the sizable gouge she had dug through the large trunk laying across her waist. The way it pressed into her instilled a pronounced sense of wrongness in him. How was she still alive it had been weeks?

Her voice was weak, but it still carried the same vulgar and harsh tone, as she all but screamed at the tree, jamming her blade into the thick wood with strength Naruto wondered how she still had. With each stab she gauged, tore, and ripped away at the wood, splinter by splinter. Her clothes was cut and blooded, covered in fine sawdust and splinters, her hair tangled in dead leaves, splinters, bark, and lichen. Her hands were red with blood, fresh and crusted. Her blade looked as bad as her, the tip broken off, and mangled over the harsh treatment it had suffered digging into the wood. It sent chills down his back as he noted both fresh and dried blood on the blade and wood, and signs that she had at times slipped and cut her hands.

It was a macabre sight. One that did not sit well with Naruto at all, despite knowing who she was and who she worked for.

He had to help her if only for his own conscience sake.

When he managed to get down to her he saw her freeze and glance towards him. Her eyes wide in fear, but only for a moment before she recognized him and her fear turned into a twisted rage as she threw what remained of her knife at him. While it did little but bounce at his feet, Naruto cursed and skipped a step backwards. Her throw had been bad, her weakened state and the odd awkward angle made it impossible to make it decent.

"Fuck," she winced as she realised she had thrown away her last weapon.

"What, here to gloat, homo bastard?" she bit out through gritted teeth resigning herself to whatever Naruto would do. Her last act of defiance seemingly draining the last of her energy and will.

"No, why would I do that!?" Naruto angered shouted back. What did she think he was?

"Then why is a deadbeat like you doing here then, idiot," Tayuya spit back turning away to stare at the darkening clear sky above.

"Shut up, bastard, I am here to help you out, you ungrateful bitch," sniffed with a smug grin on his face sure that that would put her in her place. When he got no response he started to creep forward, and around Tayuya, cautious still watching for any tricks she might pull. He glanced at her face and she looked away from him with a sneer.

Somewhere deep down she did not want to be stuck any more than Naruto thought she would.

Naruto took a moment to look at the tree trunk, wondering how to best remove it. He knew a rasengan would remove it no problem, but the idea was to help Tayuya not hurt her even more. Looking down at how it pressed into her made him feel uneasy. Tayuya had done a good job, if minimal, digging herself out. But it would have probably taken her another week to make enough room to crawl out.

Maybe he could lift it off? He looked down the tree trunks length, no, it was too big to even try. At best he would nudge it but he did not intend to crush the sound ninja any more than she already was.

Digging? He extracted a kunai, weighed it in his hands, but a final look at what little the pink haired girl had managed so far made him discard the thought.

Gama probably could lift it off, he thought, cupping his chin in his hands he nodded, that would do it.

Backing away to get room to summon the large toad Tayuya glanced over at him.

"Fucking knew you wouldn't do it."

"Shut up," Naruto bit back, why was he helping her again? He bit his thumb hard enough to draw a token amount of blood.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Slamming his palm down he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. When it finally drifted away It revealed the orange man sized toad, Gama.

Gama blinked a few times before looking left and right. To his mild curiosity Jiraya were nowhere to be seen. Only his orange clad little student stood there, which made him the summoner curiously enough. He guessed he could make an exception for the boy, it was his first time being summoned by him.

"Hey, Gama could you lift this out of the way," Naruto clapped the offending tree trunk to hammer his point in.

Looking from the hand to the tree and to the girl beneath it Gama accepted the simple order. Naruto earning a point from not wasting his time with something nonsensical.

Gama shot his tongue out and wrapped it around the trunk and with an athletic flex flicked it away. With a quick look it determined his task done and unsummoned himself.

Naruto however did not notice as he stared in shocked horror. When Gama threw away the tree trunk Tayuya had been taken by surprise and unable to prepare for it, groaned as pain flooded through her. The weight that had pressed down upon her after a long bloody week had finally lifted and while she felt relief it was nothing compared to all the pain that resurfaced.

Hidden beneath the tree had been her mangled lower body. Her right leg laid bent the opposite way it was intended to bend, the bone pressing against her skin at odd angles, and her foot twisted a hundred and twenty degrees the wrong way. Her left leg was also broken and pointed the wrong way at the knee. And what skin Naruto could see was a dark purple or blotchy yellow. And that was only what he could see.

Gritting her teeth against the pain Tayuya leaned up on her elbows to inspect her own injuries, careful not to move more than she had to. She had known it was bad but seeing it just made it easier to place the pain, it was suddenly a lot harder to ignore it.

"Fucking shit," she stated.

Tearing his eyes away from her injuries he noticed for the first time just how pale Tayuya was. Except for rosy sunburnt cheeks she was pale as chalk.

Concerned he edged closer. Kneeling down he gripped her shoulder, he noticed it shaking.

"Oy, you alright?" He asked.

Tayuya slowly turned her ashen face towards Naruto, and grabbed his collar with such speed and strength that belied her state she growled.

"Get, me, down from here!"

"O-okay," Naruto's wilted under the shear desperate fire in her eyes. Naruto bent down and inched his arm in under her knees, and tried his damnedest to ignore the horribly scraping sound when her broken bones rubbed against each other. When he snaked his arm around her back Tayuya gripped the back of Naruto's jacket with a death grip and braced.

Taking a steadying breath Naruto strained against her weight for a moment then, when he was sure he would not trip, lifted her up. Her legs hung limply. Her right thigh bent at her own legs weight, and shifted his grip to support the break as best he could. Tayuya's grip tightened even more and it pinched him. Her other hand found the hem of her tunic and she wove her hand into it. The cloth strained as she pulled and flexed at it. It was a desperate attempt at keeping herself calm through the pain.

Naruto was worried that she had stopped breathing when she finally hissed another gasp and glared at him through her bangs.

"What are you, waiting for idiot, hurry up and get me down!" she hissed through gritted teeth. He face reddened as she strained against the pain.

"Right, right," Naruto cleared his head. One step at a time, first get down from the canopy and to the ground.

Being as careful as he could he started the very slow and long decent. It was a task made all the harder holding the damaged girl. Every jostle and turn brought out a harsh gasp from the pink haired girl. When he finally got down to the forest floor Nothing of the aggressive girl remained as she practically clung to him. Tears running down her face, Naruto was unsure if they were from pain or relief.

Unsure of what to do next Naruto just stared at Tayuya for a moment.

"Put me down," she finally whispered and Naruto sat her down against a tree. "Splints, splint, get something to splint my legs up fool."

Numbed by a new exhaustion Naruto could only nod and stumbled away into the forest to look for something to use as splints. A few minutes later he returned with an armful of sturdy sticks, and was brought to a halt at the sight in front of him.

Tayuya had not been idle while he had been away. The thick rope she and the other sound ninja used laid cut open and thrown to the side, her tan tunic was now little more than a pile of ribbons. Her tunic had done a lot in hiding her shape. The shirt she wore underneath was cut and revealed pale and scarred skin, the left shoulder hung only by a thread. A large cut in her side revealed a pink and ugly scar. She was inspecting her stomach and had pulled up her shirt to study the large purple bruise that covered her lower abdomen.

"Hurry up you damn onion," she swore towards him brandishing a fresh sharp kunai. Where had she gotten that? He quickly felt for his belt bag and felt it was opened. Now a lot more weary he inched closer and placed the sticks down, not taking his eyes of her and the knife.

She grinned and waved it teasingly his way before handing it over handle first.

"Could have asked," Naruto grumbled and returned his knife to where it belonged.

"As if," she sneered and grabbed for one of the sticks and started to bind it to her broken thigh. "You just going to watch like a fool or are you going to help me?"

Naruto grumbled some more but helped tie the stick securely to her thigh, receiving a satisfying grunt in reply when he tugged the last ribbon tight. It fell to him though to finish the job as Tayuya could not reach without discomfort, and Naruto did not want her to injure herself more than she already was.

Looking at her lower right leg he was stymied, how did someone splint so many breaks without doing more harm? More so how was he supposed to remove the legwarmer? Tugging them off did not seem like a smart move.

"Um," he glanced up at Tayuya in askance.

"Ugh, cut them off or get done with it already dimwit!"

Taking out his Kunai and did as told, he took the edge to the bandages and sheared them of all the way down to her sandals. With her lower leg now bared it was much more obvious how bad her leg was. He could see on the surface how the shinbone was broken. About three inches below the knee the skin was bulged and uneven, swollen and a complete maze of discoloured bruising. Half way down the bone the other break were, a jagged edge showed that the bone was completely shifted to the side lying parallel with the rest.

It took Naruto some time to figure out how to place the braces, much to Tayuya's chagrin as his trial and error approach moved her leg time and time again, each time sending pain through the limb. But Naruto managed in the end to support the breaks enough that he felt secure they would not move.

After the right leg was done the left was in comparison a piece of cake, but not any less upsetting. The damage, to his eyes, were only the knee. So securing the leg straight with long sticks was a quick and mostly painless endeavour as he only needed to… straighten the leg before tying it tight to the splints immobilizing the limb. It was a shoddy patchwork he knew, but at least it would be better than not having them.

Tayuya breathed out the breath she'd been holding during the ordeal, glad that it was finally over.

Making the splints had eaten up the rest of the afternoon, and the woods were quickly darkening with the oncoming night.

"You have anything to eat?" Tayuya asked.

"Uuh, some instant ramen." Naruto dug through his belt bag extracting his treasured ramen scroll. His skill with Fuinjutsu was meagre, but when he learned from Jiraya how to he could transport a lot more ramen, or food in general, with him in these scrolls. He had been sold on the idea from that moment, and made it.

With practiced ease he had a fire going, and water cooking in a pot within minutes.

"What flavour do you want?" Naruto asked showing her a cup or two from the literal pile he had unsealed.

"Just give me one," Tayuya said, not caring. She was hungry and tired, it mattered little to her.

"Okay," Naruto rooted around in his pile, if she was going to be like that she might as well get one he did not like as much as the other flavours. He liked them all, but even amongst his most favoured food he had his favourites. He set a vegetable cup to the side as he settled to start with a beef one himself.

When the pot started to boil he quickly filled the cups and handed Tayuya hers.

"Let it soak for a few minutes," Naruto instructed. Tayuya cradled the warm cup to her getting a very far off look in her eyes.

Naruto felt awkward while the silence grew. What was he supposed to do now? Why did he help her, wasn't she the enemy? Orochimaru's trusted elite guard. It was her fault Sasuke was tricked into abandoning them. But why was he not angry at her? Why did he not feel like taking revenge?

Ah, ramen is done. Naruto put his musings on hold and started to dig in. In moments his cup was empty and he prepared his second cup. Waiting on his seconds he threw a quick look towards Tayuya who had still to start eating.

"Hey, hurry and eat before your noodles get soggy."

Tayuya jerked and looked between Naruto and her food:

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Tayuya said dragging her words and started to eat mechanically.

Naruto watched her for a moment before shrugging off her oddness. For all he knew that was normal for her. When she was not being a bitch, he added bitterly. He had yet to be thanked for helping her, it was irritating, but he was sure she was grateful even though she was not saying so.

Adding more fuel to the fire and water to the pot he continued to fill his belly with ramen, deciding after that day's event he deserved a treat. Darkness was slowly creeping up them and soon all he had was weak moonlight and the fire to light up the surroundings.

After an hour Naruto noticed how quiet it was. Looking up from the embers he let his eyes adjust to the darkness to look at Tayuya. His heart jumped when he saw her slumped to her side, her cup of noodles tipped and emptied on the ground. Rushing to his feet he kneeled beside her.

"Hey, Tayuya, Tayuya!" he shook her shoulder and noticed how cold she was when his fingers brushed against her bared shoulder. "Oy!"

Being as careful as his shaking hands could he sat her up again. He cupped her head in his hands and lifted her chin up to look her in the face. By sheer luck he felt her breath on his hands, and it calmed him down considerably. She was sleeping he confirmed, but found he could not let her go. He stared mesmerized at her face. She was pretty when she did not sneer or grimace like she had done so far. Her relaxed features, and slightly parted lips transfixed him.

Then a chill breeze passed him by and he shivered. She was going to catch a cold with only her shirt between herself and the weather.

Reluctantly he let her head go, gently leaning it against the tree he had her propped up against. His heavy weather cloak would probably do the trick. Unsealing his cloak from his bag he tucked it around Tayuya as best he could. Feeling satisfied with it he went back to the fire.

It seemed his plan to revisit the Valley of the End had been waylaid.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all for reading. I have a penchant for reading Naruto/Tayuya fics for it has a special touch (preferably) that I like. Mainly Tayuya being crippled, a thing many have used but done away with in a cheap "Tsunade fixes her back to full health" outcome mid story. Which cheapens the relationship somewhat. I like that brash tit getting some humble pie while still providing a deadly sweet dependence on Naruto.

If anyone knows of these kinds of fics please PM me and tell me which ones.

And as always, review or PM me if you have questions or just want to tell me how good/bad I am, what I could have done better or worse, etc. etc.

See you next instalment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter: Two**

* * *

Dawn approached and Naruto woke up with a jaw breaking yawn. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what he was doing. He looked towards Tayuya. She was still asleep, it did not even look like she had moved at all since he draped her in his cloak. Not waiting for her to wake up he relit the fire and made himself breakfast leaving the last cup he had saved for the morning for Tayuya.

He ate his meal in silence, watching the girl sleep while listening to the symphony of birdsong going on all around him. But when the sun had managed to rise high enough to shine down through the tree crowns Naruto went to shake her awake.

"Tayuya wake up."

Nothing, she did not even stir in her slumber. He tried in vain for more than a minute to wake her up but got no response.

"Great, just great," what was he supposed to do now, wait for her to wake up? They had to get her to a hospital to fix her legs. And he had to get back home before he was away from home for too long. But he had to carry her anyway, so why could he not do it while she slept. If she got cranky it was going to be her fault, not his.

He secured the cloak around her before he lifted her up into his arms, taking a moment to shift her around until she lay resting comfortably in his arms before setting off.

It was a lot more awkward holding her now as her limp body made it hard to keep a good balanced grip. But he carried on, stopping only to shift her back, or rest which he had to do a lot more often now.

It was nearing noon when Tayuya started to stir in his arms. He felt her shift her arms around and grimaced as he walked.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Tayuya groaned as she managed to clear the cobwebs from her sleepy head.

"Back home."

"Back home…" Tayuya's eyes widened in panic. "Oh fuck no!" She started to struggle against the cloak.

"H-hey, watch it or I will drop you!" Naruto struggled with the girl who was quickly loosening herself from his cloak and subsequently from his grip.

"Like hell I am going back to Konoha like a swine for slaughter fucktard!" With a last hurrah she managed to free one arm which he quickly wound into his hair at the neck, and pulled hard enough that Naruto thought she was trying to scalp him by hand.

"Ow, ow, ow!" In an attempt to lessen the pain he instinctively followed the hand which only managed to throw him off-balance. And with one final buck it sent him tumbling to the ground. In an attempt to not hurt her legs he tried to soften their landing.

"Omph," the air in his lungs forcefully left him, together with what felt like half his scalp when the sudden impact ripped Tayuya's hand away. His arms got pinned under her. He felt her slide away and unconsciously took hold of her to stop her momentum.

"Hiiii," she hissed biting her lower lip to hold in the involuntary moan of pain. After a minute of suffering through the icy cold pain that flowed through her, she opened her eyes. The she felt a twitch below her. She could feel Naruto's hand firmly gripping her ass, his thumb pressing up somewhere it had no place to be. When she saw Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and felt his hand give a testing squeeze she growled

"Let go already!" She gripping the back of his head again and ground his face into the dirt.

Tayuya, finally satisfied, pulled herself away from him after giving him a final nasty press into the dirt.

He could do little else but stare stunned at his own hand while nursing his injured cheek. The pain did little to erase the phantom feeling of her ass that he groped unintentionally, but he still felt his cheeks heat. _So that how it feels…_

Tayuya gave him a derisive snort as she watched him admire his own hand.

"Shithead."

"Oy, what's the big idea? Are you crazy you could have hurt yourself!" Naruto shouted feeling peeved. It was not his fault, none of it. If she had not made him trip he wouldn't have accidentally grabbed her like that!

"Typical softhead Konoha shit, I did not suffer through all that just to get tortured and imprisoned by your damn village dumbass!"

"I would not, why do you think I am going to do that? I would never do something like that to anyone!"

"Oh yeah, like I would believe anything you say?!"

"Where else can you go!? You need a doctor to fix your legs and Konoha is the closest hospital! Where else can you go?"

They both glared at each other in defiance.

"Fine," Tayuya spit out. She had no choice; she had nowhere else to go, nowhere she could go on her own at least. The only reason she was free right now was because of him. She knew it was pity from that made him help her, and that grated with her.

Naruto climbed to his feet and resealed his cloak. Picking up Tayuya was a lot more awkward now, he was very aware of his left hand now. She was surprisingly soft in his hands. He could feel the coiled muscles beneath his hands, but now he could not stop noticing that there was an actual girl in his arms.

Tayuya slung an arm over Naruto's shoulder. It helped taking some weight off her legs but it also helped him carrying her. Despite knowing that she needed to be carried she felt both embarrassed and annoyed. She did not like this at all. But what choice did she have. She was a marked woman by Orochimaru, by Sound. And she was by the Konoha shits too.

She winced when Naruto stumbled, jostling her legs.

"Ah, watch it dipshit!" She proved her pain by digging her fingers into the nape of his neck. "Walk straighter."

"Ow, ow, ow, stop it you bastard!" Naruto shouted and shrugged her arm off. "One more time and I will drop you and leave you!"

Tired of this mistreatment he had suffered while helping her, he put down his foot. He was not going to accept it any longer. When he got no response, he harrumphed, and took her silence for an answer for compliance and continued on.

While the day progressed and he made good headway through the forest towards Konoha, they made two stops to let Naruto rest before settling down for the night. He did not want to seem too caring for his former enemy, but he saw it on her that she needed them more than him and made sure to take a bit longer than was necessary. He was not sure if she was aware just how hard she had been gripping his jacket but if she continued much more he feared it might actually tear before they got back home to Konoha.

He set about preparing their last meal, and therefore his last ramen. Konoha was, by his reckoning, only half a day away. He would have continued but he did not think he had the energy to carry Tayuya all the way. Especially not since the gate would be closed by nightfall and make entering the village a lot harder. It was easier if they just waited and entered during the day. fewer questions and risks of getting caught.

Tayuya sat in silence, and only looked up from her lap when Naruto passed a cup of spiced noodles to her. She could not shake the feeling she was being led to her execution. But what choice did she have. She was weak and she felt it in her body. Being trapped, injured and broken for so long had worn her out. And she did not like the weakness she felt, she hated it. And now she was too weak to fight for her freedom. Worse still she had to trust the stupid idiot not to screw her over. And what were the chances of that? Likely, even if he did not, the rest of those Konoha bastards would.

* * *

That night Naruto laid awake staring up at the sky. What was he supposed to do when he got back home? He had to get her through the gates, through all the streets and to the hospital at the village centre… all without getting caught carrying Tayuya. Worse was how he was to explain to the hospital staff, and worse still how he was going to explain this to granny Tsunade. He could already feel the bump on his head he would get.

No, it was probably best not to tell her if he could. It was probably best if anyone that was on the mission did not know. So he had to think of a way to get her inside without her being recognized. But then she is supposed to be dead… who would look for someone that they think is dead? Gripping the cusp of his chin he nodded in thought. Yeah, maybe it would not be so difficult. If he was right then he would simply need to wander in through the gates, if nothing else he would actually get help getting her to the hospital, then… then he had to figure out what to do with her…

He sighed, this was growing into a bigger headache than he wanted. He should damn hate her for everything she had done. She had been there helping Orochimaru kill the old man, she had been there, he assumed, persuading Sasuke to defect to her side, and she had decked him in the face and almost killed Shikamaru. Yet when he saw her trapped like that, he couldn't just leave her like that.

It was probably the fact that she had not done any real harm herself that made him merciful. While the thirds death still stung, she had not personally done anything more than maintain the cage Orochimaru used to kill him. During the chase she had tried to kill them, but not managed it. Her comrades had seriously harmed his friends, but that was it. Everyone was going to make a full recovery, compared to their opponents, so what had he to be mad about?

Well… she was a bitch, vulgar and unfriendly… yeah. It was only his good conscience that did not allow him to leave her there.

He was taken from his musing when something impacted the side of his head.

"Ouch!" Naruto nursed his temple and glanced at the thing that hit him, a pebble. "Wha?"

Looking up he saw Tayuya glaring at him.

"What?

"I need to shit," Tayuya said.

"Uh… okay?" Naruto felt his cheeks heat a bit. Why did she have to tell him that? Couldn't she just go do her stuff on her own, like Sakura, heck anyone he knew really. Weirded out by the statement he settled down again, now wondering if she had actually gone crazy.

But before he had managed to do more than lie down he was hit by another pebble.

"What's you problem!?" He shouted angrily as he sat up and met her glare with one of his own.

"I am not going to sit in my own shit and piss, shithead!" she growled back.

"Why would you do that!" He felt flustered, what was she getting at? "Just go behind some bushes or… oh." Then it dawned on him. She couldn't go by herself… His face flushed beet red before paling as he realized fully what she meant.

Tayuya just stared at him with an unwavering, staunch expression. Naruto stared back in slack jawed shock.

"You are s-serious!?" he stuttered as his voice squeaked at the end.

"Help me now or I swear I will strangle you to death with my own soiled pants!" she threatened waving a fist in Naruto's direction.

Naruto hesitated but rose up to his feet, and walked over with mounting trepidation. How was he supposed to do this? Was he just to hold her up… then what? Tayuya beckoned him to pick her up. Her face scrunched up as she tried to ignore her injuries.

"You want me to shit in the camp? No, then hurry up!" She admonished.

Swallowing hard, Naruto moved them both a couple of dozen metres into the brush. Well enough away from their camp so there would be no chance the smell would wander to them.

Feeling completely out of his depths right now Naruto did not know what to do next. Part of him was afraid and more than a little uncomfortable.

Tayuya grunted and shifted in his arms. Naruto had to struggle to keep his balance as she turned in his arms and not drop her. When she had her back against him, her own arms around his she seemed to be stratified. He was now holding her up by the thighs.

With desperate quickness Tayuya pulled down her pants and with a guttural groan let go.

The whole ordeal was nothing but awkward for Naruto. All he could do was try and ignore the smells and sounds as he did everything he could to set his eyes as far up he could comfortably manage. Seconds dragged on to what felt like minutes. It went on for so long that Naruto wondered where she'd kept it all! All he wanted to do was get it over and done with so that he could literarily and figuratively wash his hands from the ordeal and pretend it never happened.

What a ridiculous sight they must be making. The mere thought of being seen like this made him feel embarrassed. But luckily there was no one around to see them. He glanced around feeling suspicious.

When Tayuya was done she ripped off what remained of her sleeve to clean herself with. She looked none too happy when after Naruto helped her into the usual bridal carry again.

They returned to their sparse camp, Naruto refusing to look anywhere but straight in front of him. He knew this was going to haunt him for years, this awkwardness he felt, he would have run away if he could. Just to save himself the embarrassment.

He sat her down next to the last surviving embers of their fire, close enough to a nearby tree that she could easily scoot over to it if she wanted to. He threw a few more branches onto the fire and blew on it, hoping he could breathe life into it again.

Naruto sneaked a peek towards Tayuya. Despite his embarrassment, he was sure that Tayuya, being a girl, was even more so. At least that was what he wanted to believe. But what he saw was the girls blankly staring down at her own lap. The strands of her shirt's left shoulder had finally given out and exposed and almost indecent amount of skin. Pale and bruised. It reminded him how chilly the night was becoming. Fall was closing in, and while it was not going near cold enough to be dangerous it would not be comfortable.

Looking at his jacket, it was worn of use with one or two greasy spots he'd never been able to wash out. It stung a bit in him as he took it off and handed it over to Tayuya, it was like handing over a peace of himself. Who took it after staring at it for a moment, Naruto could have sworn it was in confusion.

Naruto grunted and nodded in satisfaction as he saw her pull his jacket around her shoulders.

Pulling out his cloak he settled down against the softest spot of dirt he could find and shifted into a snug, comfortable position, and prayed for good, peaceful sleep.

It never came.

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter took a fair bit longer than I planned. But, here you all go.

Please PM or Review me your thoughts and questions, tell me what you like, what you dislike.

Until next time o/


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